T-Max 100, IlFord FP4 125, Ilford PanF 50, or Ilford Delta 100: Which should I use?

Treymac

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Hey guys. My last question on film selection, probably :D. So for black and white, I have four options and I can't choose:

T-Max 100
IlFord FP4 125
Ilford PanF 50
Ilford Delta 100

So I guess most of you guys know already, I'm using these down in Utah/Arizona where it's going to be really sunny. Please tell me which type I should use, I can't decide :confused:. Any help at all would be really welcome.
Thanks.
 
Use them all and then you will know and you can tell us.
 
OK, I'll take that advice. I was about to do something hasty and buy film off eBay. But now I finally decided to look at B&H, and film is so much cheaper to buy from there. And I can specify the amount of film I want of each kind. I guess that's a lesson, eBay is not a place to go to for film. It's a little too late for me now though, I've got loads of Ektachrome coming.

So, here is how I'm probably going to break it down:
3x Delta Pro 100
2x Pan F
4x FP4
4x T-Max (photos of Utah taken with TMax on Flickr look amazing)
1x an extra roll to make it one roll a day

I revise my question to: which film do you think I will have the most satisfactory results with, shooting things like Monument valley, and Zion, and Moab?

Now I just need to learn how to meter manually :meh: My plan is to take a test roll, meter with my XTi, use those metering settings on my ETRSi, then get them developed and see how far off it is.

Thanks.
 
I would say out of those four, FP4 is probably the most tolerant towards exposure errors. Then, it is down to personnal taste. I personally like the look of older emulsions (such as PanF and FP4) better than more modern ones (such as Delta 100 and T-max). I also find properly exposed PanF and FP4 easier to print in the darkroom (but I have limited skills when it comes to printing).
 
My preference would be Pan F if you need fine-grain and can get away with 50 ASA, otherwise FP 4. The Delta I'm not familiar with and, well, T-Max? :thumbdown:
 
I've used tmax and the delta. I personally don't like the way the delta comes out. I shot both tmax 100 and delta 100 on the same day about 15 minutes apart between rolls. The delta was an incredible pain to print, even though I was taking the same subjects as the tmax. If I can find the negatives for them and I can get my hands on a scanner, I'll show you what i mean.
 
I like the look of FP4 and it's pretty tolerant of errors. PanF would be great if you can get away with 50 asa. I'm not a fan of Delta at all but TMax isn't terrible.
 
Ok guys, I just put my order through and here is the black and white film I got:

1 roll - Agfa Scala-200 (also bought mailer (only 1 developer in north America! but pictures look amazing on flickr, can't wait to try it))
1 roll - Ilford Delta
1 roll - Ilford PanF plus
5 rolls - Ilford FP4 plus
5 rolls - Kodak TMax 100
3 rolls - Kodak Tri-X (expired in 2000)

Which averages out to a little over a roll a day. What do you think, good mix? :thumbup: :thumbdown:

(side note: just picked up a roll of Fuji Acros 100 for my AE-1 Program to play around with before I go. Anybody have any thoughts on this film?)
 
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That looks like a great mix, though don't expect that Tri-X to be a representative sample. I am doing the same thing with Tri-X and T-Max (400) and trying out some Agfa I got on clearance. It's fun to mix and match.
 
Panf is the bomb if you're in conditions that you can use 50. Delta's great too. I'm not a big fan of Tmax though, I'd go with Tri-X if you have a choice.
 
Glad to read all the opinions. I'm trying out FP4+, Delta 100, & Pan F. I developed the FP4+ & Delta 100 in HC-110, 1:31 (B), & found that both films were quite grainy. I then tried them with HC-110, 1:39 (D), & the grain was hardly there. I have not had trouble getting images out of either FP4+ or Delta 100. I have yet to try the Pan F, but I think I should develop it in HC-110, 1:63 (H). We'll see what happens.
 
OK, I'll take that advice. I was about to do something hasty and buy film off eBay. But now I finally decided to look at B&H, and film is so much cheaper to buy from there. And I can specify the amount of film I want of each kind. I guess that's a lesson, eBay is not a place to go to for film. It's a little too late for me now though, I've got loads of Ektachrome coming.

So, here is how I'm probably going to break it down:
3x Delta Pro 100
2x Pan F
4x FP4
4x T-Max (photos of Utah taken with TMax on Flickr look amazing)
1x an extra roll to make it one roll a day

I revise my question to: which film do you think I will have the most satisfactory results with, shooting things like Monument valley, and Zion, and Moab?

Now I just need to learn how to meter manually :meh: My plan is to take a test roll, meter with my XTi, use those metering settings on my ETRSi, then get them developed and see how far off it is.

Thanks.
Pan F will give you the finest quality but I like grain, do B+H sell Agfa apx100 ? I love this film but my film of choice is Ilford HP5, I have a hard time choosing what film to use i have so much in the fridge I've got 300 feet of Double X to get through

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
 
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OK, I'll take that advice. I was about to do something hasty and buy film off eBay. But now I finally decided to look at B&H, and film is so much cheaper to buy from there. And I can specify the amount of film I want of each kind. I guess that's a lesson, eBay is not a place to go to for film. It's a little too late for me now though, I've got loads of Ektachrome coming.

So, here is how I'm probably going to break it down:
3x Delta Pro 100
2x Pan F
4x FP4
4x T-Max (photos of Utah taken with TMax on Flickr look amazing)
1x an extra roll to make it one roll a day

I revise my question to: which film do you think I will have the most satisfactory results with, shooting things like Monument valley, and Zion, and Moab?

Now I just need to learn how to meter manually :meh: My plan is to take a test roll, meter with my XTi, use those metering settings on my ETRSi, then get them developed and see how far off it is.

Thanks.
Get yourself a good meter that can also spot meter much more accurate than your digital camera

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
 
Thread is from 2008. OP hasn't been seen since 2010.
 

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